It is a common medical procedure for medical practitioners to need to have access to the external jugular vein located on either side of a person's neck to allow access for an IV catheter or other cannula to allow for the flow of medicines and other liquids into the patient's bloodstream.
In patients with difficult peripheral venous access, the external jugular vein is a common secondary site for attempted intravenous cannulation. Unlike other superficial veins, due to the anatomy of the neck, there is no available tourniquet to occlude the external jugular vein without disrupting breathing or blood flow.
At the present time and depending, at least in part, on the physiology of a particular patient, the external jugular vein may or may not be prominent and the insertion of an IV may be difficult to perform in normal circumstances. The inability to be able to isolate the external jugular vein (EJ) may result in the delay in medical treatments and even death if the physician is not able to obtain access.
One of the present procedures which is utilized in the medical profession to enlarge the EJ is the Trendelenburg procedure. This procedure involves elevating the patient on the operating or other table to a position in which the head is down and the feet of the patient lie higher than the head. This inclination tends to induce a blood flow into the head and thus, hopefully, make the EJ more visible so that an IV may be introduced. The problem with this procedure is that one has to be concerned, particularly with overweight patients, that the patient will slip off the now inclined operating table. It also has a disadvantage that the procedure must be set up and the patient secured on the operating table and then the operating table inclined, thus causing a unnecessary extension of the time in which a procedure will be required to be performed. It also makes the patient uncomfortable in that the patient's head is in a down position and blood rushes towards the head.
Therefore, there is a need for a simple, cheap, solution that provides the results of the Trendelemburg procedure yet does so without discomfort or danger to the patient, and is done with an apparatus that is cheap, simple and disposable in a procedure which is straightforward.